1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an ergonomically designed bicycle brake grip, particularly one used with 10-16 speed, recreational or racing-type bicycles, with "drop," aero or similar type handle bars and attached brake levers. It is not, however, limited to such use.
2. Background Discussion
Ten to sixteen speed bicycles used for recreational road riding, touring or racing usually employ "drop" or similar type handle bars with brake levers attached to the bars, either at the forward bends in the bars or elsewhere. The brake levers are comprised of a body member, a lever arm, and an internal spring mechanism. The body member is made of a hard material such as, for example, a metal, a rigid plastic, fiber glass, or a carbon fiber reinforced material. The lever arm is attached at one end to the body member by a hinge. The lever arm serves two main purposes: as a brake actuator and as a hand grip. The body member is secured to the handle bars and the lever arm is positioned to facilitate grasping with the fingers.
The brake levers are designed poorly with respect to the safety, performance, and comfort of the bicyclist, and fail to take into consideration the anatomy of the bicyclist's hand and how the bicyclist adopts different grips depending on road conditions and other factors. The design of such conventional brake levers disregards the overriding operational reality that the bicyclist frequently changes between at least seven different major hand positions as terrain, road conditions, and speed change, or when discomfort is experienced. These hand positions, which shall be illustrated subsequently, are designated as "standard," "power pace," "steady climb," "aero," "cruise," "power climb," and "open road." All hand positions require a firm grasping of the grips. Conventional brake levers do not facilitate a secure, safe, and comfortable hold. Moreover, they do not provide adequate leverage and support, failing to compensate for the amount of upper body weight transferred through the hands, which frequently results in the hands slipping on the brake levers. Also, the design of conventional brake levers results in accelerated fatigue of the hands, causing the bicyclist to more frequently shift hand positions even if this is undesirable from a performance, safety, or comfort standpoint.
In an attempt to alleviate these problems, the body members of conventional brake levers have been equipped with thin, rubber sheaths which cover the exterior portion of the body member. These sheaths are shaped to conform to the overall, basic configuration of the body member. Their exterior surface is not designed to compensate for the many different hand positions that the bicyclist may prefer. The sheaths are not adequately designed to provide the desired, and much needed, improvement in safety, performance, and comfort. Nor do they effectively eliminate hand slippage. They are too thin, and wear out quickly in heavily contacted areas. They fail to hold tightly to the hard surface of the brake levers, and severe slippage occurs between the body member and sheath. Such slippage frequently occurs during hill climbing or sprinting, when the bicyclist is off the seat of the bicycle, leaning forward and grasping the brake levers firmly. Slippage causes poor performance and can be very dangerous and fatiguing, resulting in undue stress on certain joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles, bones, soft tissue, and nerves in the hands. The sheaths also come in one size. This single sized sheath does not adequately support larger sized hands, leading to the problems of fatigue, slippage, and injury. Consequently, the bicyclist experiences difficulty in finding safe, comfortable, and nonslipping hand positions on the poorly designed conventional brake levers. The result is excessive and prolonged friction and pressure on the nerves, ligaments, tendons, bones, soft tissue, and muscles in the bicyclist's hands, leading to severe irritation, discomfort and ofttimes injury.
A related problem is the poor design of the lever arm, which has not been designed to take into consideration the safety, performance, comfort or anatomy This arm is not usually covered with any cushioning material, so that the bare hard surface directly contacts the bicyclist's fingers. Several of the hand positions require the bicyclist to use the lever arm in conjunction with the body member for support or leverage. The constant pressure exerted on the fingers causes extreme discomfort and irritation and can be damaging to the joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles, bones, soft tissue, and nerves of the fingers.
Typical hand grips are illustrated in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 366,775; 3,436,090; 3,803,937; 3,868,110; and 4,771,649.